Last Round of Games & World Cup Draw

World Cup Qualifiers
Like the rest of the world (except South America and Oceania) El Salvador eagerly awaited the results of the World Cup Qualifying draw in Durban. CONCACAF has 3 and half places for the World Cup, and a torturous route to the finals, involving four phases: - Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 and The Hexagonal Phase.

The seeds in the region (“Pot A” Mexico, USA and Costa Rica, “Pot B” Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago and “Pot C” Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica, Canada, Guyana and Haiti) get a bye to the second phase, and are guaranteed to not meet a fellow seed. Because of numbers St Vincent also got a bye, but must meet a seed.

Phase One consists of 11 one-off home and away ties between “Pot E” and “Pot F” countries, to meet a seed in a similar home and away one-off tie in Phase Two. The 12th “game” is the bye for St Vincent (special “Pot D”, on their own)

Each one of these Phase Two “seed” v “Pot E/Pot F” games feeds into one of three Phase Three group, each of four countries. These groups are pre-designed and there will be no further draws. If all results go according to ranking then these groups will consist of 1 “Pot A” country, one “Pot B” country and 2 “Pot C” countries. Each team plays the other in the group home and away, and the top two teams from each group move on to the Hexagonal stage (6 countries). Once again the Hexagonal stage is a simple league of six countries, the top 3 go to South Africa , and the 4th placed team has a one off home and away tie with the 5th placed team from the CONMEBOL qualifiers, for the final berth from The Americas.

So now that’s clear, what lies in store for El Salvador? Working from the middle, then backwards, we shall see. Ideally for Phase 2 you want a “Pot C” country; unfortunately El Salvador got a “Pot B” country, but at least missed the big 3 of CONCACAF. They got Panama, which is probably a fixture slightly too strong for them, but of course if they play well away they could easily draw, making a home win possible. Put it this way: - it could have been worse. If they do manage this their group would also be one they could get into the top two, their opponents probably being Costa Rica, Guyana and Haiti.

Going back to the first phase El Salvador were in “Pot E”, so were guaranteed a weaker “Pot F” country. It’s not often the blue and white is favourite but they surely are here, as they drew Anguilla. This is a British Overseas Territory just east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. It is an island 16 miles by 3 miles, whose capital is The Valley. The entire country’s population of 13,477 could fit into Charlton’s Valley twice over. It is one of the very few old British Colonies that do not list cricket as the national sport (surprisingly India is also one, as it lists Field Hockey). Despite sailing being the number one sport cricket is very popular, and they have produced one Test Cricketer, Omari Banks, currently of Somerset. In terms of football they consider themselves “one of the world’s weakest national teams”. Their football history is brief, the federation being formed in 1990 and this will be the first time they have ever played against a national team that is not from the Caribbean. It has been a tough road in their 32 international games so far, winning two, drawing 1 and losing 29. Their last win was again Montserrat, who enjoy the last position in the FIFA rankings. The home leg will be on 8th February 2008 at the Cuscatlán (39,000 capacity) and the away leg 26th March 2008 at Webster Park (4,000), The Valley. That may seem a small capacity for a national stadium, but as ratio of population Wembley would have to have a capacity of 15,052,014 to equal it.

A good result here could raise the El Salvadorians confidence level nicely going into the Panama match, and if the improbable happens, and they make the HEX, then who knows where the resulting confidence may take them. When relaxed and confident El Salvador play a fluid passing game that can be both attractive and effective – at times. I for one certainly hope for a long campaign.

So here we are with a round up of the last round of games in the normal season:-

FAS 3 – Aguila 1 video
The Salvadorian classic has rarely been so eagerly awaited. After a fine “first round” Aguila needed a win to get into the semi-finals, FAS also looking for a win, following a great “second round”.

In the end it was the team from Santa Ana that came out on top keeping Nicolas “Nicogol” Muñoz well and truly in a box, meanwhile Orlando “Papi” Rodriguez was a nightmare for the San Migueleño defence all afternoon. With both teams wanting the win this was as much a psychological battle as anything. Both managers opted for 3-5-2, but FAS played only Oscar Jimenez in the defensive “contención” position, whilst Águila had Juan Lazo and Eliseo Salamanca, allowing fewer attacking options. It was a surprise to see Alex Campos alongside Nicogol rather than Rudy Corrales. Obviously Luis “el Pele” Ramirez Zapata was trying to break the largely inexplicable bad run of Águila by mixing things up a little. I wonder if he knows that that nickname is already taken?

The local team scored from a set-piece in the second minute, and this really set the tone, although neither team could settle in the first half hour, but slowly FAS began to take control, and the second goal on 28 minutes (“el Papi” Rodriguez) really saw them in the driving seat.

So FAS are through to final four, and Águila not. A season of two halves could not be clearer. There are two “rounds” of 9 games here, so in a half-season each team plays all the others twice: - four times in the full year. In the first round Águila got 19 pts and FAS 8 pts, in the second round Águila got 6 points and FAS 22. Quite remarkable, and here are the full figures:-

Águila 1a vuelta – Pld 9, W 6, D 1, L2 GF 15 GA 7 Points 19
Águila 2a vuelta – Pld 9, W 1, D 3, L5 GF 9 GA 13 Points 6
Águila TOTAL – Pld 18, W 7, D 4, L7 GF 24 GA 20 Points 25

FAS 1a vuelta – Pld 9, W 2, D 2, L5 GF 12 GA 13 Points 8
FAS 2a vuelta – Pld 9, W 7, D 1, L1 GF 27 GA 8 Points 22
FAS TOTAL – Pld 18, W 9, D 3, L6 GF 27 GA 21 Points 30

Incidentally the FAS resurgence included 15 points in a fortnight, and Nelson Ancheta celebrated this win by "dancing like a child".

Alianza 3 – Metapan 0 video
With Alianza having had a very dodgy season, and Metapan safe for a semi final spot, and the team from the capital not beating the blue and whites for 2 years it looked like this might be a dull encounter. Kick off, in the “Magico” Gonzalez, being at 10am could hardly have helped, yet the first half was a tight and interesting battle, without any goals.

However the albos always had the better in this game and finally broke through in the 60th minute, Francisco “el Caballito” Alvarez scoring. Losing this game meant that Metapan lost their 2nd spot in the league, although they still qualify easily for the semi-finals. Worse for the visitors as late on as Alvarez got his second of the game, his eleventh of the season. This means he shares the title of “Hombre Gol” with Metapan’s own William Reyes, both with 11 goals leading scorers this half season the “Opening 2007”. Alianza, however, had no chance to qualify.

Chalatenango 4 – Nejapa 2 video
Chalate wanted to confirm their position as “super-leaders”, whilst Nejapa had no hope of qualifying. In the event Metapan losing meant the leaders would have stayed top, even with a loss, but a convincing performance (without Anel Canales) showed they were worthy winners. The game was effectively over at 3-0 after just 24 minutes with goals from Nahum Galdamez, Camilo Mejia and Franklin Webster. Straight after the break Ramon Sanchez added the fourth, and it was plain sailing.

In fact if Chalate have shown a weakness this season it has been taking the foot off the pedal when coasting in front, and two goals (Juan Carlos Reyes and Jose Luis Osorio) in quick succession (65 mins and 70 mins) gave them a start as the visitors had the better of a much more even second half.

Vista Hermosa 2 – Once Municipal 0 video
Firpo 1 – San Salvador 0 video
Both the home teams needed Aguila to not win, and to win themselves to get into the semis, and were playing against the bottom two clubs. The news coming over the loudspeakers from Santa Ana buoyed both sets of fans throughout the afternoon.

Firpo overcame a spirited-but-defensive San Salvador by a single goal, and this game showed up once again that Firpo need to take more chances. Meanwhile Vista Hermosa were more comfortable against the Canaries, who have had a season to forget.These two look favourites to battle for the drop, with San Salvador a single point ahead going into the Clausura 2008. At the end of the normal “full” season the points from both “half” seasons are added, the bottom team go down, and the second to bottom play off against the second division runners-up for the place in the top flight.

Meanwhile the two winners finish joint fourth, and so they fight over the last semi-final place. Firpo have a goal difference of plus 6, meanwhile the roadrunners have negative 1. But this counts for little, as here goal difference is not used – there will be a play off on Wednesday between the clubs on equal points for the last place. Personally I would rather see Vista Hermosa through, they have played with spirit and I think their tidy organised football deserves to see them into the play-offs.

Here is the final table:-
1st Chalatenango 34 pts
2nd CD FAS 30 pts
3rd Isidro Metapan 29 pts
4th L A Firpo 27 pts
4th Vista Hermosa 27pts
6th Águila 25 pts
7th Alianza 24 pts
8th Nejapa 22 pts
9th San Salvador 15 pts
10th Once Municipal 14 pts

Giant Screen For The Cuscatlan
It has been announced that a 40 square metre screen will be installed in the Estadio Cuscatlan before February 2008. Not sure if this will be in place for the Phase One Qualifier, and not sure it is a priority for El Salvadorian football. Also I really like the tiny scoreboard currently there, just displaying the score and the game time, but I can, unusually, actually see it.

El Salvador has a World Champion
Great news as El Salvador has a World Champion, and even better news he is a fat bloke with a tash. In the World Archery Championships Jorge Jimenez was well placed going into the last two rounds and he won them both, in Dover and Dubai, to take the World Crown. Jorge is now having a short rest before putting all his energies into 2008 Olympics.

Further Chaos in El Salavador

Owing to recent events (see photo) this will need to be brief. There are three stories to fill in on, the under 23 team, goings on at San Salvador, and the exciting “Caso Anel Canales”.

El Salvador Under-23 – Road to Beijing 2008, in Panama.

Firstly, who goes to the Olympics? Well, it is open to players born after 1st January 1985, that is the under 23 teams. CONCACAF have two places, and the final deciding round will be in the USA between 8 teams: - 3 from North America, 3 from Central America, and 2 from the Caribbean. Obviously the three North American teams are Canada, USA and Mexico. The Caribbean countries have decided already on Haiti and Cuba: that leaves three from Central America.

To decide there are two three-way tournaments, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador in Panama last week, and Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, next week in Guatemala. Each team plays each team once, for a three-team table (think 2nd round 1982 World Cup). The top countries from each league go to the States, and the two second placed teams play a home and away tie for the third and final place. Then all 8 teams go to USA to decide the two who actually go to China. All very exciting and simple, no?

So first up in the Rod Carew Baseball stadium (I kid you not), in front of very few was El Salvador and Panama. Despite the visitors controlling the midfield, and the game in the most part, they could not find the net. Following a disastrous mix up, basically the goalkeeper was at fault, the hosts went one up. After this El Salvador had to push, and were unlucky to concede another, again errors at the back. They continued to be the better team and scored late into injury time, losing 2-1.

Incidentally I watched all this in a Chinese restaurant, as we enjoyed what will surely be our last night out together ever.

So this takes us to the Friday night showdown v Honduras, a win really required to guarantee at least the second place play-off chance. There must have been fewer than 100 people in the “bleachers”, as I believe they must be known at a Baseball Ground (no – not in Derby…). This was the little City fan’s first game, having been born earlier that day. She sat on my lap and watched as a less convincing El Salvador was brushed aside 3-0, to kill off any hopes at all of going to the Olympics. No matter that the score line once again flattered the winners, this little Salvadoreña has been crying ever since. I haven’t dared tell her about Plymouth Norwich yet.

San Salvador
I have copious notes on their latest loss at home, my last live game for a while, I think. Suffice to say the panteras played well again, and went ahead. A Quintanilla free kick met easily in the box to be headed home by and unmarked Cerritos, one of two home players on their own in the heart of the box, very poor from Vista Hermosa.

Without being spectacular, the visitors hustled well, and closed San Salvador down. They seemed determined to play a short passing game, with all players converging towards the player with the ball. The “Road-Runners” took full advantage of this, closing down the spaces consistently. The defending by SanSal was actually better, but they still went down to a businesslike Vista Hermosa, using the flanks well, 3-1.

Eliseo Quintanilla was a golden boy of Salvadorian football, and went off to seek fame and fortune a few years back at DC United. However a bad injury kept him out, and he returned, now 24, to El Salvador and signed for a year with San Salvador. “Cheyo” is clearly one of the best players on the team. One of the things I enjoyed about the game last Wednesday was how quickly the tiny crowd turned and got personal. When Pablo Hernandez, the keeper, came down to the home end for the second half, we all called his name, and generally gave him a bit of worship. A few minutes later he badly misjudged a long free kick, making it 2-1. The abuse was instant, and very personal, and went on far too long. This seemed worse in a crowd of 30-40 than a crowd of several thousand, although it’s the same I suppose.

Cheyo Qunitanilla was not having a great game, and we did get on his back a bit too. When in Washington there were some unpleasant rumours of drink and girls, all hotly denied. He has now, with 2 games left and less than a month on his contract, announced he is leaving San Salvador as of now, because “The results have not been what I hoped”. There is one word of this: - Character. I can’t see this talented young player amount to anything because of this flaw, although he is talking a lot about many offers and going abroad again, I doubt it. A blow for SanSal, none the less.

Anel Canales
Now, this is a cracker, and I may have mentioned it before, but the story has just exploded. Anel Canales is a Panamanian who was contracted this season by Chalatenango, during their best run ever, looking good for a semi-final spot.

He played in the 2-1 victory over San Salvador who made an official complaint to the federation. The complaint being that Chalat was the third team that Canales had played official matches for during this “FIFA year”, which is strictly forbidden.

He played at least one game for Tecnico Universitario in the second division of Ecuador, although he was only with them 15 days, and he was inscribed with Chorrillo FC in Panama. The directors of Chalat maintain that he was only inscribed, but did not play, and had a fax to this effect, which allowed the committee to throw out the complaint by San Salvador. The Pantera’s directors left the hearing muttering dark threats of appeals, etc.

I have looked into this, and it is astounding how little information is available, as to whether he played or not. I managed to find a listing of the game he was supposed to have played in Panama, but no team lists. An exhaustive search of the Panamanian newspapers online archives came up with no reports at all on this game. San Salvador have repeatedly stated they will not let it lie until the referees official report from the game is produced.

The player is saying nothing.

During the triangular tournament the Salvadorian federation (FEDEFUT) spoke privately with their counterparts in Panama (FEPAFUT), who are now referring everything to FEDEFUT. The head of FEDEFUT, Rodrigo Calvo called Lisandro Pohl, Director of Chalatenango, to say “I’m calling from Panama, as a friend - I advise you not to play Canales anymore this season”. Pohl declined the advice, and he continues to play.

Now with all this coming out, all the other teams who dropped points against Chalat whilst the Panamanian was playing have joined forces with SanSal, asking the points to be stripped, and for them to get the three points. These are:-
Aguila 0 – Chalatenango 1

Chalatenango 2 – San Salvador 1
Firpo 0 – Chalatenango 0
Vista Hermosa 1 – Chalatenango 1
Chalatenango 2 – Metapan 1
This would alter the table immensely, dropping Chalatenango from 1st to 8th, and giving them no chance to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time in their history. Metapan would go from second to first, Aguila 4th to 3rd, and FAS would drop from third to joint 4th, needing a play-off with Firpo, if the league finished today (they don’t use goal difference here).

At the other end of the table San Salvador currently have 11 points to Once Municipal’s 14. This would change to 14 each, and remember that SanSal have a game in hand (home v Aguila this Wednesday night), so you can see why they have been so keen to pursue this.

With only two jornadas left this season, maybe a decision will not be taken in time, and maybe Chalatenango will have to pay for it next season, but I am sure FEDEFUT do not want FIFA stepping in, as they did with Alianza last year, and so expect some swift action, and some bitter resentment from the north.

Teams Not Paying
Nelson Ancheta’s FAS join the list of teams whose players have been on strike over non-payment. This looks set to be resolved rapidly, but again it brings into question how things are run here. I have seen here in the press a movement building to make sure the league does not program games during the FIFA international dates, as the clubs are fed up of playing matches without their best players. Honestly…

Sorry made those exciting happenings all sound a little stale. Too tired probably….

Busy Fortnight for Clubs and Country

Two games this week just gone, and another coming on Wednesday, and we are beginning to see what Vanegas is trying to do with the team. Following the disaster of Metapan it could only get better, and by going back to basics it looks a lot better already.

The important bottom of the table clash against Once Municipal Wednesday, and the tricky weekend away match at Nejapa had many similarities. The main thing they have shown us is that San Salvador have a midfield capable of controlling the game, and probing any team. The flip side is distinct and fatal defensive frailties.

Henry Vanegas had made some telling remarks about the “big name” players, and I think reading between the lines, it seemed that the names have been too happy to blame their companions, meanwhile, they have been too content to leave all the work up to the international players.

His talk seemed to have worked well, in both these games; we really saw the whole team playing as a team, and at last keeping the concentration levels high throughout the entire 90 minutes. And we have seen that this is a team that could easily be at the other end of the table, but may need two or three new defenders to realise this potential.

San Salvador 2 Once Municipal 1 video
Wednesday night the Panteras started very positively and in full control, against an overwhelmed Once Municipal, whose 5-3-2 was not enough to control the midfield. Gochez, Alas and Quintanilla playing very well, Maldonado out on the left out of sorts. With these linking nicely with Cerritos and Obregon the Canaries owed a lot to Guevera in the centre of defence for not conceding.

It must have been quite a shock for both sets of players to go in with the score 1-0 in favour of the visitors. It seemed to be from nowhere; a long ball came to the far side, well chased down and crossed back. The San Salvador defence were caught ball watching, and wholly static.

Amazingly San Salvador kept their heads, and shortly after the break the centre back Zepeda scored, making it one each. The introduction of Valle for Maldonado shortly afterwards helped further, but it was mostly more of the same, as the home team continued to dominate. Last week I criticised them for a lack of attacking ideas, other than Alas free-kicks. In this game, however, not only did Quintanilla take all the free kicks, the movement and short passing, particularly in the box, was exciting and probing. They kept to their task admirably, and were rewarded with a Ronald Cerritos winner deep in injury time.

This result brought the two teams back level in the last spot. However the control of the game and the probing danger must have left Vanegas very happy, although still concerned a little at the organisation at the back. Incidentally, I ran into Dennis Alas and Henry Vanegas just before kick off, as I was hanging around the changing rooms. Gave me a thrill, at least.

Nejapa 2 San Salvador 2 video

So this set them up nicely for a trip to Nejapa, but it was much the same. Wholly in control two disastrous defensive lapses saw them two down at the break. And even worse, a strong challenge from Dennis Alas just on half time earned him a red card. It seemed harsh, but once again San Salvador’s new found belief allowed them to stick at their task, and they came back to get a point, Francisco Milla (pictured) coming on to score the equaliser. Unfortunately Once Municipal were winning 1-0 at home to Firpo, to push them two points ahead.

Elsewhere In El Salvador

Things are hotting up at the other end, looking for places in top four, to pass to the semi finals. Firpo have slipped, drawing (Metapan) and losing. Alianza had an odd week, losing 5-1 to Chalatenango, before beating leaders Aguila 1-0, and are now off the pace. Chalat also drew with Vista Hermosa, and look well placed to qualify for the first time in their history. But Metapan’s draw with Firpo, and victory over FAS sees them at the top.

Wednesday night the four remaining games back from Jornada 12 will be played, San Salvador entertaining Vista Hermosa, and after that all teams will have 3 further games this half season.

El Salvador National Team

The national under-23 team is now in Panama for the pre-Olympic qualifiers, they will play the hosts on Wednesday night at 7pm, and again on Friday 9th against Honduras also at 7pm. Both games will be at the Rod Carew Stadium, a baseball park converted for football. This means San Salvador will be without William Maldonado and Dennis Alas, who is likely to be named captain of the team.